Coolant leak

[phat46]

I have been seeing a puddle under my '46 for a short while now; I finally got time today to check it out. It appears that a freeze plug is leaking, of course it's one of the rear ones on a SBC. I'm gonna go through the car this winter, it's been together for 14 years, and fix a lot of little things this winter. For now i'd like to try a "fix in a bottle". Does anyone have any reccomendations for additives to cure coolant leaks, somthing that realy might work? I did see the Myth Buster guys stop a radiator leak with eggs!    

[MrMopar64]

I've always had good luck with Bars Leak..... I've used both the one with pellets and the metallic one both seem to work well

MM64  

[donsrods]

I am no longer a fan of any of the bottled stop leakers.  Reason is, when I tore down my '27 roadster last year, the entire inside of the engine was plugged up solid with stuff I had dumped in to cure small pinhole leaks that had developed over the years.

When I built the car, I had Brassworks build me a custom radiator, to the tune of about $ 600.00. (that is in 1989 dollars) It worked great, but over the years, from shaking going down the road , a couple of minor leaks developed.  I dumped in some stop leakers, and it went away. Then awhile later, another hole.......added more stop leaker.  The water passages in the block and intake are just about closed off with this stuff, so much so that I am scrapping the block and starting over wnen I redo the car. I tried digging the stuff out of the water passages with a screwdriver, it was almost impossible to remove.

They sell freeze plug repair kits at the auto store that are expandable rubber. You insert them, tighten up the nut, and they expand to fill the hole and stay in place. Of course, you have to pop out the old one first, but a screwdriver driven in an cocked will usually get them right out.

When you tear your engine down for a rebuild, use brass freeze plugs. They cost a few bucks more, but last infinitely longer.


Don

[EMSjunkie]

I did see the Myth Buster guys stop a radiator leak with eggs!    

Did they use scrambled, or sunny side up? :?  

I was told by my Father, many years ago, that Barsleak, and that copper powder stuff, AlumaSeal, I believe, would also plug up the radiator core.

of course, he also told me that kissing girls would make their bellys swell up  :oops:

so I never tried either one    

Vance

[parklane]

Joe.........believe it or not, but good old pepper does the trick. Jason, our son, who you met, got a leak in my 01 F150, when he was pulling the wagon back from OK a couple of years ago. Put in a shaker full of pepper, and it's still in there. Trucks been back to OK twice since then, and still no leaks.

John

[blksheep]

After 14 years, the freeze plug has rotted (rusted) from the inside out on your sbc.
Do you really think some miracle snake oil in a bottle will cure this problem?
Take the time to replace the freeze plugs with new ones and flush the cooling system as well.
Or,....keep triple A's ph. # real handy.

Coolant tip.
Remove your rad cap, put the positive lead of your multimeter in the coolant with out touching the rad. Ground the negative lead to the outside of the rad. If your meter reads more than 2/10s of a volt, its high time for a coolant flush. The electralsis is deteriating the exposed metals in your coolant system,......like freeze plugs.

blksheep...fully charged...in Charlotte

[phat46]

After 14 years, the freeze plug has rotted (rusted) from the inside out on your sbc.
Do you really think some miracle snake oil in a bottle will cure this problem?
Take the time to replace the freeze plugs with new ones and flush the cooling system as well.
Or,....keep triple A's ph. # real handy.

Coolant tip.
Remove your rad cap, put the positive lead of your multimeter in the coolant with out touching the rad. Ground the negative lead to the outside of the rad. If your meter reads more than 2/10s of a volt, its high time for a coolant flush. The electralsis is deteriating the exposed metals in your coolant system,......like freeze plugs.

blksheep...fully charged...in Charlotte

I undersatnd the problem, and how to fix it the right way.
I do plan to fix it correctly, I just can't do it right this moment. I was hoping to get it  to stop leaking temporarily to get through the summer season. I don't have the time needed right now to pull the motor and replace the freeze plugs, that will be done this winter, like i said in my original post.

[donsrods]

I know freeze plugs are a pain to reach sometimes. Is this one in a really inaccessible place, or can you sort of get at it if you remove the starter or something else?  If you can get kind of at it, you can pop out the old one and either use the correct brass one, or use the rubber bottle stopper type I mentioned in the earlier post.

I mention this because if you could have seen the inside of my 302 you would try something else first.  If this stuff is designed to plug up holes, it will plug up passages too. And, as mentioned previously, freeze plugs will continue to erode and maybe leave you stranded.


Don

[tomslik]

Joe.........believe it or not, but good old pepper does the trick. Jason, our son, who you met, got a leak in my 01 F150, when he was pulling the wagon back from OK a couple of years ago. Put in a shaker full of pepper, and it's still in there. Trucks been back to OK twice since then, and still no leaks.

John

does it "sneeze" thru the carb every now and then?


i've hear about the pepper too.
supposed to work with aluminum radiators pretty well.

[Arnold]

Joe.........believe it or not, but good old pepper does the trick. Jason, our son, who you met, got a leak in my 01 F150, when he was pulling the wagon back from OK a couple of years ago. Put in a shaker full of pepper, and it's still in there. Trucks been back to OK twice since then, and still no leaks.

John

does it "sneeze" thru the carb every now and then?


i've hear about the pepper too.
supposed to work with aluminum radiators pretty well.

 Works real well for other stuff too..(tightening stuff up)..sneezing.

    Bars Leaks.I can't see this stuff plugging up anything.I have used this stuff lots..and taken apart stuff that it was used in.No problem.Problem with  Bar's Leaks..there is stuff that works an awful lot better. Ya..plugs it up alright..PLUS stuff you don't want plugged up.Some heater cores just about any of that muck is bye bye core.Bar's seems to be ok.The older stuff..and lots of the older stuff.LOOK OUT.Some of the aluminum powderred stuff(as mentioned). That can be good if you want parts of the rad SOLID..can't even rod through.LOL..trying to think of what I haven't used?? I would never use anything other..or stronger than Bar's Leaks.Be very careful in mixing/using different kinds of junk.

    As mentioned..get access to the plug..get it out..put in a rubber expandable one.

   If you simply can't get access..IF you can get anything in there at all ..clean it off with a rag/brush and some thinner or something then .JB weld/epoxy or the like.You're gonna be pulling it at one time or another to do it right.It is not going to bond that well to cast iron anyway.

   Take the pressure and heat  out of the system..any way you can..if you have a bigger rad you can stuff in fairly easily..a lower psi cap..a bigger overflow.Lower t.stat.

   Try and remember if you can to cool the thing down as much as possible on shut off..avoid the dreaded heat soak.

   Some core plugs on some cars/engines..are just nasty,nasty,NASTY!

   Good luck..

[OzRod]

Bars pellets.... six years and going strong on my daily driver. :mrgreen: Works great and engine doesn't sneeze.

Although if I cared somewhat for the engine I'd probably park the car and fix it when I can.

[SKR8PN]

One container of the aluminized type sealer won't clog up your entire engine block OR your heater/radiator core Only after adding bottle after bottle of Bars Stop Leak pellets , will it do that  If it were mine,I'd get the engine warmed up and add ONE container of Aluma-A-Seal or some other brand of the metallic style sealers...........if that won't stop your leak,then you know what you have to do.........

[Dirk35]

I had the radiator in my old Explorer develope a pin-hole leak about half way between Oklahoma and Wisconsin, somewhere around Iowa. That was at a little over 100k miles. I used the Bars Leak in the bottle from a truck stop. I sold the truck at 315k miles, never needed to repair it, so I never gave it another thought.

[Ed ke6bnl]

I had one of those little toyota mini motorhomes maybe paid $300 well it developed a leak shootin water through a pin hole about 8in straight out front of the rad. I took a whole can of balck pepper and put it in and I could see the leak start to shrink up and seal and made it back over the GRAPEVINE in So. Calif if you know what I mean.  My tractor had a leak and it look like you need to split the entire thing apart to get it out put in that alumiseal and had it idle for about a 1/2 hr then I got sick I saw some water leaking to the ground turned out it sealed perfect and the water was coming out the over flow did not have a recovery system, been that way for about 10years. Thye stupid motor home was sold the second I got home.  When at all possible fix it correctly soldier or replace the parts is my real belief.  My boys 35mpg $175 car Nissan with 285000  was leaking at the head he got some block sealer and followed the proceedures and it has been leak free for about 15000 miles so far will drive till it dies and trash it.  Ed ke6bnol